She’s now a prominent businesswoman, broadcaster, author, and activist, but Mary Portas’s road to success was far from an easy ride.
Born in Watford in 1960, the woman who would later become known as the ‘Queen of Shops’ navigated immense turbulence during her childhood, losing both of her parents and becoming homeless all within the space of a few years.
Despite her hardships at an early age, Mary managed to forge a successful career that would one day see her helm her own TV show and even work alongside former Prime Minister David Cameron.
In a new interview with The Guardian, the 65-year-old reflected on her defining years, even telling the publication she ‘never got to be a teenager’ as a result of her misfortune.
Describing herself as a ‘spiky’ teenager who always ‘pushed boundaries’, Mary’s life was turned upside-down when her mother died of meningitis when she was just 16.
The fourth of five children, she was one of the last to move out of the family home and was one of the last remaining when their mother died very suddenly.
Her father struggled to cope with the pain of losing his partner, and despite being only a teenager herself, Mary took on the responsibility of caring for her young brother, Lawrence.
‘Dad fell apart,’ she told the publication. ‘It wasn’t just losing Mum; my siblings, my elders, my whole support system were gone.
She’s now a prominent businesswoman, broadcaster, author, and activist, but Mary Portas’s road to success was far from an easy ride (pictured in 2023)
‘The house went from this warm, crazy, chaotic Irish family environment – always a dog barking, food on the stove – to darkness and silence.’
Her mother, previously the family’s ‘matriarch’, had been so omnipotent that Mary said she didn’t even own a set of keys since she was always at home.
During a period where ‘there was no therapy’, she was sent back to school where she continued to struggle up until she earned a place at the prestigious drama school, Rada.
But with a young brother to take care of, she instead enrolled on a college course to study visual merchandising which would give her more time to care for her brother.
Being her brother’s caretaker left her with ‘no choice’ other than to assume the role of matriarch, and she had to learn new skills, such as cooking.
Her father ended up finding a new partner but two years later, tragedy struck the family once more when he died, and left the family home to his new wife, effectively rendering Mary and her brother homeless.
Mary and her brother were left having to rely on the kindness of strangers to get by. They eventually found refuge in a council house living with a family friend.
She said: ‘I can’t imagine doing that to any child. There must have been some pain in her. I don’t harbour resentment, but I do often look back and grieve for my younger self – I wish I could go back in time and put my arm around her.’
Mary Portas (left) chats with Queen Camilla (right) then the Duties of Cornwall, in 2019 at Clarence House
The tragedy meant that Mary ‘never got to be a teenager’ and instead of clubbing, drinking, and rebelling, she set off to work on making her dreams come true.
She insisted that her resulting success was not because she was the ‘smartest’, but because she worked harder than those around her.
By the age of 48, she had a highly successful TV show with 3.5 million viewers and was being treated as an important public figure in the space.
The last few years, however, haven’t been easy for her, and she’s been rocked by a divorce from her wife, and business losses that saw her hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Speaking The Guardian previously in 2023, Mary described the period as ‘completely horrendous’.
She explained: ‘I divorced. I had to sell my family home, I had to reset my family with this young son, find another home and work out how things were going to work.’
In May 2019, Mary split from her fashion writer wife Melanie Rickey after 17 years and the couple sold the £5million mansion they shared in north London
The former brides, who share son Horatio, 13, were one of Britain’s first same sex couples to legally wed.
Many will have done a second take when the Queen of Shops, 63, was presented with her OBE yesterday
Mary added that her marriage was ‘incredible and lovely’ but ‘addiction is hard to share a home with’. Her now ex-wife Melanie Rickey has written about her struggles with alcoholism and journey to sobriety
At the same time as her marriage broke down, lockdown hit and her business Portas, was losing ‘hundreds of thousands’.
The pair started dating in 2003, the same year Mary divorced her ex-husband of 13 years Graham Portas – who she has two adult children with.
Six years since the divorce, the former couple are now in a better place, with Mary saying she and Melanie had recently celebrated their son’s birthday.
